Republican state senator voices support for Child Victims Act breaking ranks with party

Sen. James Tedisco is the first Senate Republican to say he’d vote for the Child Victims Act, which two weeks ago overwhelmingly passed the Assembly with strong GOP support. (Hans Pennink/AP)

ALBANY — A GOP state senator broke ranks from his colleagues Monday — saying he'd vote for a bill to help child sex abuse survivors.

"If it comes to the floor, I'll support any of the versions that are out there," Sen. James Tedisco (R-Schnectady) told the Daily News. He urged state leaders to strike a deal before Wednesday' scheduled end to the legislative session.

Tedisco is the first Senate Republican to say he'd vote for the Child Victims Act, which two weeks ago overwhelmingly passed the Assembly with strong GOP support.

“I respectfully call upon you to act now to right this long-standing wrong,” Schneiderman wrote. “The time to act is now.” (Jefferson Siegel/New York Daily News)

"I always said if a vote came to the Senate floor, we'd get Republican votes," said Gary Greenberg, an upstate investor and child sex abuse survivor. "The Senate should take the bill up."

Also Monday, Attorney General Eric Schneiderman made a last-ditch plea to pass the Child Victims Act in a letter to legislative leaders.

In the letter, first reported Monday afternoon by the Daily News on its website, Schneiderman noted the Assembly recently passed the bill.

"After years of emotional debate, this important progress should be the impetus for a final legislative agreement," he wrote. "We need to seize the unprecedented momentum this issue has gained in the halls of the capitol this year to finally enact real, meaningful reform that will deliver justice to child sex abuse victims across New York."

Linda Rosenthal and Brad Hoylmanmarch march across the Brooklyn Bridge with to tell Albany legislators to pass the Child Victims Act. (Jefferson Siegel/New York Daily News)

Gov. Cuomo, who introduced his own bill last week that was identical to what the Assembly passed, angered advocates when he said two days later he does not believe the measure will become law this year.

The Senate GOP, as it has for years, has refused to bring the measure to the floor for a vote.

Klein introduced a compromise bill that also seemingly hasn't gained traction in the chamber.

With the legislative session scheduled to end on Wednesday, time is again running out for survivors.

"I respectfully call upon you to act now to right this long-standing wrong," Schneiderman wrote. "The time to act is now."

Schneiderman said as a state senator he voted to eliminate the statute of limitations on first-degree rape and other high-level felony sex offenses. He also cosponsored legislation that would have extended the timeframe that criminal and civil cases could be brought by victims of child sex abuse.

Now as attorney general, he noted that "today, New York stands with just three other states – Georgia, Mississippi and Alabama – in denying child victims of sexual abuse their day in court due to unreasonably restrictive statutes of limitation."

Advertisement

The Assembly and Cuomo bills would allow survivors to bring civil cases up until their 50th birthdays, and felony criminal cases until their 28th birthdays. Currently, victims have until their 23rd birthdays to bring such cases.

The bills also include a one-year window to revive old cases and treats public and private institutions identically. Currently, those abused in a public setting, such as a school, have 90 days from the incident to formally file an intent to sue.

Passage in the Senate this year is still considered a longshot. The GOP privately discussed the issue Monday, but still has major concerns about creating a one-year window to revive old claims, a source said.